Core memory emulator using non volatile ram.

[Chuck Guzis]

On 12/17/18 9:51 AM, Guy Sotomayor Jr wrote:

> Except it is *much* more expensive than MRAM.  32x8 NVSRAM is $18.50 in qty 1 from Digikey.
> A 64Kx16 MRAM is $11.84 in qty 1 from Digikey.  MRAM requires no additional circuitry so that
> also reduces the overall cost (and has unlimited write endurance).

nvSRAM is sole-sourced technology, so there's a premium.

The crazy thing is that I was using the Xicor NOVRAM in the late
70s-early 80s.  I still have a parts drawer full of X2444 8-pin DIPs
from about that time.  The technology appears to be roughly the same.

Xicor got gobbled up by Intersil V2; Intersil V1 got gobbled up by
Harris and then spun off again as Intersil V2 and then gobbled up by
Renesas.

You really need a program to tell the players apart.

FWIW, there seems to be increasing interest in NVDIMMs:

https://www.electronicdesign.com/industrial-automation/why-are-nvdimms-suddenly-hot

I have no doubt that by the time they're wiping the drool from my face
and wheeling me in front of the TeeVee to pass the time, that engineers
will be discussing their favorite 20 psec. 8 exabyte non-volatile RAM
chips...

--Chuck